Red Sox Central: Boston pretty much locks up division after sweeping its hated pinstripe rivals from New York

Danny Barletta

Monday

Aug 6, 2018 at 7:01 PMAug 6, 2018 at 7:02 PM

Wow! I don’t think anybody saw this coming. There’s never a time when I feel like a Red Sox-Yankees series could be swept by either team. These two teams always go toe-to -toe with each other, especially this year, where they have both enjoyed the two best records in baseball throughout most of the season.

But this past weekend, the New York Yankees rolled into Fenway and got absolutely humiliated. They were SWEPT! That’s four losses in a row by the same team, their longtime hated rivals, and that team is our very own Boston Red Sox.

The Sox now have a 9 ½ game lead in the American League East, a lead I do not see going away, even though there is still a lot of baseball to be played. But I also know between how unbelievably well the Sox have been playing and how crappy the Yankees have played hovering around the .500 mark for the past six weeks I think it’s safe to say that the Red Sox should win the division without too much of a problem.

This was one of the best weeks of the season for the Red Sox. They started it by beating the Phillies, 2-1 in 13 innings on a walk-off double by Blake Swihart. But they then lost a pitcher’s duel to Jake Arrieta, 3-1.

After a very rare Wednesday day off, the Red Sox welcomed the Yankees to town with a 5 ½ game lead. They needed a split or better to keep that comfortable advantage. Well, as everybody knows by now, including the disgruntled Yankee fan, they did better than that.

After trailing 4-0 early on in the first game, the Sox inched back before putting an eight-spot on the board in the fourth inning to secure the first win of the series. Steve Pearce had a career night with three home runs to lead the 15-run attack.

Then, in the second and third games of the series, the Red Sox won 4-1 behind brilliant starting pitching performances.

On Friday, Rick Porcello threw a complete game one-hitter with nine strikeouts, and then on Saturday Nathan Eovaldi threw eight shutout innings, and allowed only three hits.

Finally, on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, David Price conquered his fear of the Yankees by throwing six shutout innings. However, he let the first two batters reach in the seventh before leaving with a 1-0 lead. He was replaced by Heath Hembree, who, along with an error by shortstop Xander Bogaerts, gave up the lead. The Yankees ended up scoring four runs, two of them charged to Price.

It looked like the Sox were going to settle for three out of four, when it was still 4-1 with Aroldis Chapman on the hill to close things out, and salvage a game for his teammates. But Chapman walked the bases loaded before J.D. Martinez ripped a two-run single up the middle to make it 4-3. Bogaerts then hit a chopper down the third base line, where Miguel Andujar made a low throw to first baseman Greg Bird, who had trouble handling it. The tying run came in on the throwing error, sending the game to extras.

In the home half of the 10th, Sandy Leon and Mookie Betts started the two-out winning rally with a hit and an intentional walk, respectively. It set the stage for Andrew Benintendi, whose walk-off single to center scored pinch-runner Tony Renda, who was just called up from Pawtucket as a replacement for the injured Ian Kinsler.

It was an unbelievable series for the Red Sox, while also being a dagger to the Yankees’ heart. The Bronx Bombers now have a not so comfortable 2 ½ game lead over the Oakland A’s for the first Wild Card spot, and the Seattle Mariners are not too far behind. It’s distinctly possible the Yankees might not even make the postseason, believe it or not. They still have to face both the Mariners and A’s on the West Coast next month.

The Red Sox are playing both Toronto and Baltimore on the road this week, where hopefully they will take care of business and grow their division lead to double digits. They are also hoping a few players will return from the DL, especially Chris Sale. But with a 9 ½ game lead, I’m sure the team is fine with him getting some extra rest.

This is not an extremely exciting week for the Red Sox, but it is still an important week, as they hope to continue the momentum that was gained from an incredible weekend sweep over the Yankees.

Danny Barletta, a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, is a summer sports intern for GateHouse Media New England’s North Unit. Danny is a Saugus resident, and Malden Catholic High School graduate. Follow him on Twitter @dbars_12 and @RedSoxCentral1, as he continues to write on the Red Sox magical season.